A high-speed network environment typically includes network devices such as access switches, routers, and bridges used to facilitate delivery of information packets and/or data traffic from source devices to destination devices. Information pertaining to the transfer of packet(s) through the network is usually embedded within the packet itself. Each packet traveling through one or more communications networks such as Internet, multiprotocol label switching (“MPLS”) network, Ethernet, and/or point-to-point protocol (“PPP”) based network can typically be handled independently from other packets in a packet stream or traffic. For example, each node which may include routing, switching, and/or bridging engines processes incoming packets and determines where the packet(s) should be forwarded.
To maintain data integrity, it is important to keep high speed traffic flows with minimal data loss and/or packet drop. With growth and innovation of new information technology, the network configuration becomes huge and more complicated than ever before. A typical data packet, for example, traveling from a source to destination can easily cross multiple networks employing different network protocols, such as PPP network, Ethernet, MPLS, and/or Internet. Since different network typically employs different protocol, packet handover from one network to another seamlessly becomes ever more challenging.
A conventional approach to resolve smooth handover between different networks using different protocols is to use interworking functions such as IPL2 Shah Circuit under Internet Engineering Task Force (“IETF”). A problem, however, associated with the conventional approach is that it does not provide a complete solution for interworking service between multiple network protocols. For example, Current industry standards do not provide a complete OAM (Operations, Administration, and Management) solution for service interworking of PPP to Ethernet.